Edging Midnight
by fallendrastic
Summary: It wasn't easy for the three of them to find time to be together, and there was no reason why they should. Carly was a cheerleader, Sam was an athlete, and Freddie was an AV nerd. But something about the three of them clicked. Something about their friendship was different. It was special. / AU.


**a/n: **So, this idea kind of just popped up in my head. I was in my room one day, kind of just being nostalgic and despairing about this show and how it ended so abruptly and how Sam and Freddie never really had closure and I thought of how different this show would be if it was on Teen Nick and was taken more seriously. And then it hit me, and this kind of just happened. So this universe is not completely alternate from the normal one: but it starts as the trio as sophomores, all from different cliques: Carly with the cheerleaders, Sam with the athletes, and Freddie with the (of course) AV nerds. Don't worry, I tried my best to stay true to their personalities, but this is my idea of how iCarly would come to be in these situations. And yes, this is a chapter story, so I hope you all enjoy this so far :)

P.S: And if any of you guys are followers of my other chapter story '_dancing for you, falling for you_' don't worry: I am not going to discontinue it. I am going to try and work on both as much as I can.

P.P.S: This story is going to consist of Seddie _and _Creddie, because I like to play around with both ships.

:

Freddie Benson loomed the glowing, wooden halls of the library of Ridgeway High.

He was used to the bright, acorn-coloured, pine-scented roomy sides. After all, it was where he would zoom to after classes or during lunch hours, usually to get ahead on his reading or finish up projects or re-examine all of his upcoming homework and worksheets, just making sure that they were ready for submission. It made him feel safe; he found deep comfort in ideal orders and flawless, infallible plans. He took one last look at the library before he made his way out, walking to his destination. Freddie nervously walked into the detention room, feeling uneasy.

This was not his type of place.

But nevertheless he ignored the surprised expressions from the students (and the teacher-in-charge), and took the seat in the back of the class.

Suddenly, a sweet scent invaded his surroundings. It was the sweet smell of jasmine and lily, a scent he instantly recognized. It was Carly Shay's _Silk_ perfume; which he always smelt whenever she would merrily skip into the hallways of the Bushwell Plaza, the apartment complex that the both of them resided in. Her feet, usually covered in a pair of sky-high white heels, would cause a click-click sound to invade everybody's ears, and she would smile brightly, carelessly, as she hopped in, because she knew that no one in that household liked to see her unhappy.

She was the kind of girl who looked so innocently delightful and sweet when she was happy, it felt almost morally wrong to make her look anything other than glad. She knew it, loved it, and used it to the fullest.

"Freddie?" questioned Carly, her velvety voice hushed and quiet.

Freddie swerved around instinctively and went face-to-face with the raven-haired cheerleader, which was still in her blue and white cheerleading uniform, and her bangs touched the tip of her mascara-coated eyelashes, the letter _C _was drawn cursively on her right cheek with a blue makeup marker, and she held her blue and white pom-poms with the enthusiasm of a mortician. She was obviously not at her happiest, but the bright sunlight kissed Carly's glowing porcelain cheeks, and she looked breathtaking once again.

"Carly," greeted Freddie, his over-enthusiasm causing the pretty cheerleader to take a delicate step back. He cleared his throat, allowing his dark brown hair to fall into his bright brown eyes. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," responded Carly, a smile slowly curving on her mouth. "Um… what are you in here for?"

"You make it sound like we're in prison," he remarked dryly. She laughed. "I was late a couple times." He caught her growing smile and raised his eyebrow. "What?"

"I dunno," she replied, clucking her tongue as she took the seat beside him. Her long, cascading brown locks swayed as she moved and she smiled widely, wider than she did around her usual clique of friends. "I assumed you went off the edge and took a walk on the wild side." He laughed, earning a death stare from Mrs. Carlyle.

"Nah, I was just unlucky. Missed the school bus one time too many." He noticed her amused stare and sighed. "So, why are you here? Despite your choice of extra-curricular activity, you actually are a pretty good kid."

"Sorry, Benson, but contrary to popular belief, not all cheerleaders are stuck-up princesses." she said. "And I only landed in detention because my attire was supposedly inappropriate."

Freddie's eyebrows rose. Carly sighed and rolled her eyes. "Dude, don't get your hopes up. I was wearing a turtleneck."

"Oh."

"Stereotypical, aren't we?" replied Carly, tapping her glitter-encrusted nails rhythmically. Her smile grew broader once she saw his cheeks turning crimson. It seemed as if she found amusement from his embarrassment. "What, just because I'm a cheerleader I'm destined to wear short skirts and tube tops? Um, no thank you." She grinned light-heartedly to let him know that she was joking, but all he could produce was a nervous chuckle. "Anyway, can I borrow your notes?"

"What notes?" He asked. She pointed to his chequered notebook that was poking out from his schoolbag.

"Those are for History right? We have it together and I missed today's lesson. Don't ask why though. It's a long story." She smiled, almost apologetically, and waited. Freddie was a bit taken aback though: Carly Shay, from his observations, just another popular cheerleader. But he never knew her true personality. He always assumed she was exactly like her clique: obsessed with their appearance and doomed to follow their shallow ways for the rest of her high school days. What he didn't know was that she was smart, intelligent actually, and surprisingly had a sense of humour that resembled his. She was a cool girl, with a great personality. Plus, she was stunningly beautiful. He quickly snapped out of his spiral of thoughts and looked at her albeit nervously.

"Um, okay, sure," he responded. He quickly handed her his chequered file and she grinned in response. Her glittery nails caressed the fabric and she brought the book to her cute, ski-clump nose.

"Smells like watermelon," she said smilingly. "Did you use scented markers to decorate it?'

"Yup," he replied, slightly more enthusiastic than he intended to. In that moment, something clicked, and he could not help but smile.

:

That afternoon, once school was over, Sam Puckett strolled down the brightly-lit hallways uncomfortably, desperately struggling to walk in a straight line under the heavy weight of her brand new pair of metal boots. Her bright blue eyes narrowed into slits and she clenched her teeth as she tried to find her balance. She did not understand Valerie Thomas managed to sashay down the hallways with absolute ease without the least bit concern of her way too uncomfortable boots.

She absentmindedly wondered why on _earth_ she had decided to fill in for Paige Smith as Carly Shay's partner for their History class until she returned from her six-month stay in New Zealand for the school's exchange programme. Sam still remembered how Carly looked at her; with her shiny brown eyes flickered with despair and sadness, how her lips pouted sadly, and how her mascara-coated eyelashes fluttered innocence. Every single one of Sam's instincts urged her to run in the other direction, but for some reason, the blonde couldn't bear to do so.

For some unbeknownst reason, she had unknowingly taken pity on the doe-eyed, harmless-looking girl and assumed she was as sweet and generous as she looked. The first time she attended cheerleading practice, her white platform sneakers squishing on the wet emerald grass, she gasped as she witnessed Carly.

It wasn't the _sight_ of the brown-haired girl that stunned her; it was what she was _doing_. Her eyes narrowed, flickers of anger and fury roaming around the irises, as her follow cheerleaders nervously and painfully performed acrobatic stunts, flying off floors and flipping around in the air, holding their hands up with continuous strength and determination.

"I smell fear," hissed Carly brusquely. All of the girls, with their neatly groomed ponytails swishing back and forth, all trembled with trepidation. Nevertheless, they all sucked in their breaths, forced a ready smile, and performed the rest of the routine with an expertise amount of high kicks, cheers, stunts and acrobatic twirls and splits in the air-conditioned air.

Valerie did a complete flip in the air and landed on the ground, her sneakers firmly landing on the floor. Danielle Dalton did a cartwheel around Valerie, waving the white and blue pom-poms around cheerfully, a bright and easy smile curving on her perfectly glossed lightly pink mouth as she whooped and hollered.

Sam stared at Danielle for a single minute, which was better known as Double D ever since the ninth grade, and she could not help wonder if she got her nickname because of her initials, or because of her cup size.

"Firm and steady!" instructed Carly. Catchy pop music blasted from the speakers above Sam as the girls twirled, spun, moved and cheered. Despite the harsh and rather quizzical commandments from their clearly unhappy coach, they all seemed content and happy with the extra curriculum activity they chose. The cheerleaders were all effervescent, all vigorous, all vivacious, determined and all equally terrified of failure.

The music came to an abrupt end and the girls all quickly positioned themselves into a pyramid. Valerie grinned cheerfully from the very top, and Danielle, along with a few unfortunate girls, buckled nervously under the weight of all the girls on top of her from the bottom.

"Take five," announced Carly. "I know you all could have done much better than that sloppy show choir wannabe routine." She turned away from the panting girls and went face-to-face with Sam.

"Sam!" she called out, her face lighting up with surprise as she spotted the platinum blonde girl standing, stunned, at the sidelines. "You want to get a head start on our project?"

All Sam could do at that moment, at a conscious level, was stare. "I'm sorry, but since when were you ballsy enough to do _that_?" Carly raised an eyebrow, looking taken aback by Sam's question.

"Do what?"

"Go full-on psycho chick at those cheerleaders," she responded. "If that's what a head cheerleader gets to do, I'm in." She expected a laugh from Carly, but she simply stared at her blankly. She re-adjusted her ponytail and crossed her smooth arms.

"I do more than just yell, trust me," she replied, albeit hastily. Sam raised an eyebrow, and looked at Carly for a moment.

"You're not a pushover," she remarked. Carly just shrugged. "But I like that."

:

Carly Shay considered herself as a good person.

In her earlier years, she grew up in cosy, suburban home, with a loving, faithful and family-oriented father and a wacky older brother. When she was suddenly told that she had to move to Seattle at the age of nine, she remained positive about it. When her father was stationed for military work, she never complained and always wished him the best, regardless of her growing desire for a father. Regardless, she always remained positive about it and joined the cheerleading squad, worked hard and earned the position of 'head cheerleader', constantly found herself at the top of the honour role, made it her job to make sure that, as long as she was around, her friends and family were always smiling and happy. She did everything in her power to make sure her father and brother were always proud of her. She got high grades and was sweet, polite and nice. She would always be as charitable as she could and she was constantly told that she had a heart of gold, always ready to forgive and make amends. She wasn't completely sinless; however, as she did many things for vanity, and she tended to get obsessive over her appearances, so much that she had to carry a miniature mirror in her purse every time she went out. But all in all Carly was nothing more than a sweet, pretty girl who loved braiding her hair, hats and makeup and had an obsessive tendency to wrap scarves around her ankles.

So how in the world did she end up here, on the side of the road, in a businesswoman's suit, and a large kookaburra hanging on her shoulder as she begged each passerby for a treat was beyond her. She half-blamed Sam and Freddie, and half-blamed herself.

How Sam and Freddie managed to get a kookaburra in the _dead of winter_ in _Seattle_ was beyond Carly.

"Come on up," declared Sam, holding a large sign up so everyone could see. The brunette comically deepened her voice as she spoke, her brown hair cascading down her shoulders as she turned around and gave everyone a bright, clown-like, frozen smile. "Come see the beautiful Carly Shay and her kookaburra. The kookaburra is an excellent kisser; I'm sure you'll love its delicate yet passionate kisses. You'll be enchanted by the beautiful creature it is. Come and kiss a kookaburra today!"

Carly hung her head as people stared at her quizzically. She used her oversized tinted sunglasses to cover her brown eyes, which shone with humiliation and fear. Her two friends seemed to be enjoying every second of this, raising her voice even higher to attract more attention from the passer-bys.

"Co-co-come everyone," chanted Freddie. Carly could hear the laughter in his voice. "I guarantee—Carly Shay and her kookaburra will not disappoint. It has wonderful reviews, and oh no! Look at that! The kookaburra is lonely and dangerously near tears! Please, lay your lips; whether chapped, glossed, dry, perfectly glossed or simply moist mouths on the bird's beak and I assure you that you will feel like a hero, or a heroine. So come up to the wonderful duo today!"

Carly was tempted to drop everything and leave (cheerleading practice was in half an hour, anyway) but a part of her convinced her to stay. It wasn't everyday that the three of them could hang out together, especially since they were all from different groups of friends, plus, this was for a social experiment project in a class that Carly found absolutely ridiculous. But she was the chain in Sam and Freddie's (somewhat) friendship. The three of them, for some reason, kept being paired together, and they ran into each other often, so it would be nice to have them find mutual joy in something, even though it was at _her_ expense.

"You know," shouted Carly, her voice muffled by the sound of the speeding vehicles on the road. "This is exactly why we don't usually hang out!"

Sam and Freddie laughed, in a very rare moment of mutual agreement, and responded in unison, "And this is exactly why we need to."

:

**a/n**: … And that's pretty much it! To clear up any confusion you guys might have: the first part is Freddie getting to know Carly for the first time, the second is Carly getting to know Sam, and the third part is basically Sam and Freddie having fun together, but Carly being the link to their experience. This is going to just basically be beginning of the three of them like initially spending a bit of time together and then iCarly will somehow form from this. This is just a fun little thing that I decided to experiment with. Please, please, **please **review and tell me what you think of it, because I'm really not sure whether or not I should continue it and make it a thing. It's basically up to you guys J Please don't just favourite it and not review. It would really mean a lot to me if you did.


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